Amazing Spider-Man, The (1963 series) #167

At the ESU lab, J. Jonah Jameson tests out the functions of the new Spider-Slayer, built for him by Marla Madison. Once all its new weapons and functions seem to be working, Jameson tests the Slayer’s strength by easily bending an iron girder, positive that he’ll finally be able to catch Spider-Man! Meanwhile, on a long road on the New Jersey coast highway, a large truck makes its way to its destination. All of a sudden, the two drivers see a strange glowing ball of light floating right up alongside them! The ball hypnotizes the one actually driving the truck, causing the truck to swerve and crash off the road! The glowing ball then lands and takes the form of a man and rips the door off the back of the truck before collecting something from inside. The man laments his reluctance at having to do this, having been promised to have his humanity restored if he steals what he is ordered to. The man decides that he is nothing more than what the one truck driver called him, a Will-O-the-Wisp, as he tends to the drivers before flying off back into the night!

Elsewhere, in Forest Hills, Peter and Mary Jane arrive at their aunts’ apartment building after getting a call from MJ’s Aunt Anna. They witness Aunt May leading a protest against their landlord, who’s threatened to eliminate the rent control on their building! More fired up than Peter’s ever seen her, Aunt May determines that she and the rest of the tenants won’t be moved, while MJ cheers her on! Peter and MJ walk off, when suddenly Peter’s spider-sense alerts him to someone watching him from a rooftop! Peter tells MJ he’ll have to take a rain check on their date, claiming he has a lot to think about. MJ takes it in stride this time, and Peter sees her off at the bus stop, before ducking into an abandoned tenement to change to Spider-Man. Spidey jumps back out the window and runs right into the new Spider-Slayer! Turns out, Jameson was following Peter, thinking it would lead him to Spider-Man, and it worked just as he hoped! Spider-Man finds that his webs are ineffective against the new Spider-Slayer, before a bright flash from the Slayer’s chest blinds Spidey. While Jameson thinks that he’s won, Spidey’s spider-sense allows him to dodge under his attack, even temporarily blinded, before he swings off! Though Spider-Man got away, Jameson swears that next time he won’t fail!

Meanwhile, Flash, Harry, and Liz are just exiting a movie, and Flash seems to have a lot on his mind. Someone then calls out to Harry from another car and Harry discovers it’s his therapist Dr. Bart Hamilton! Harry introduces Dr. Hamilton to Liz and Flash before he drives off, and Flash wonders if he should talk to Dr. Hamilton as well! Elsewhere still, Robbie is getting into his car to go check out the truck hijacking, when he’s surprised by Spider-Man in his back seat! Spidey asks Robbie if Jameson has been acting oddly lately. Robbie says that all he’s noticed has been Jameson locking himself in his office and cackling over something in an envelope he keeps locked in his desk. Robbie then tells Spider-Man that he wouldn’t say anything even if Jonah was acting oddly, saying that he presumes about their relationship too much! Robbie goes off on Spider-Man for showing up at his home, seeing it as a major violation, and tells Spidey that if he wants to contact him in the future, to just see him at the office! Though stunned, Spidey uses the information Robbie gave him to go poking around Jameson’s office and quickly finds the envelope in question. Spidey ends up avoiding the night watchman and swings out before looking at the envelope.

While swinging, Spidey then notices the floating ball of light and swings after to investigate. He watches the ball fly right through a building wall and peeks inside to watch it turn into a man. Spidey jumps in to intercept Will-O-the-Wisp and catches him in the process of stealing an envelope from a safe. Spidey jumps at Will-O-the-Wisp but ends up passing right through him! Spidey rejects Will-O-the-Wisp’s offer to talk things out, forcing Will-O-the-Wisp to punch Spidey right out of the window! Dazed from the punch, Spidey is shocked when Will-O-the-Wisp floats down to try and slow his fall, giving Spidey enough time to spin a web mattress to cushion his fall. Spidey elects to hear Will-O-the-Wisp out, when he spots the envelope he took from Jameson’s office on the ground. He grabs it, and Will-O-the-Wisp thinks it’s the envelope he was meant to steal! He hypnotizes Spidey, leaving him completely immobile, just as Jameson’s Spider-Slayer finds him again, leaving Spidey in the middle of the two of them with no way to fight back! To be continued!